A review by Jenni:
What I love about this
episode:
It's not that I ever disliked this episode but for some reason I seem
to have overlooked it for a while. Now it seems to be one that I
rewatch quite frequently. I'm not quite sure why but obviously I
enjoy it!

Maybe I like this episode cause I can relate to feeling discouraged by
news headlines and TV coverage of world events. So I feel for
Monica regarding that. However... her reaction to the headlines
also ticks me off but more on that later.

I *love* Tess' musical performances in this. "Someone to Watch
Over Me" is a wonderful song and "Work It Out" is very catchy.
I'm glad Della put it on a CD.

I think
Andrew's especially handsome in this one. Again, not
quite sure why but possibly that's why I've started watching this
episode so often... I love his exchange with Amethyst. He's
so compassionate and quietly encouraging with her. Every time I
watch this scene I can't help but think of Rafael calling China in
"Children of the Night" "sleazy." Here Andrew's practically
propositioned by Amethyst (something that would probly make me nervous
and indignant) and not only does he not resort to name-calling but he
hears her out with out getting judgmental. He makes it clear that
he doesn't think her plan is a good one but he doesn't belittle or
dehumanize her at all. Quite the opposite. Andrew tries to
get Amethyst to see how important she is and how she can't lose
herself. Way to be!

Tess' quote about God being ignored, laughed at, and called dead really
gives me a jolt. It makes me realize how often those things
happen. And I'm inclined to think Tess saying that just mighta
pulled Monica outta her own head which was very much needed. I
just wish Tess might have clued Monica into how others' (aka Andrew)
might feel at other times, too...

Amethyst's story about telling a teacher he was her favorite only to
have him ask her why she didn't pay more attention was another
jolt. That teacher lost a great opportunity to reach out to a
struggling student and completely bungled it. That it followed
Amethyst and continued to affect her negatively is obvious. It
just made me think about how careful we need to be with our
words. You never know how crushing they might be to someone.

I'm going to look up and see who played Mr. Burns cause I thought that
was some great acting. He had me feeling sympathetic when he
admitted to coming to the bar just because he wanted to see someone who
knew him. Then he had me feeling enraged by his passing judgment
on the others'. Then I was back to sympathetic. A
beautifully acted and written complicated character, I feel.
Clifton Powell is the name of the actor, by the way. And, boy,
he's got quite a filmography!

The reconciliation scene between Noah and Mr. Burns gets me.

What I didn't love about this
episode:
As much as I sympathize with Monica here, she drove me a little
nuts. Cause I've totally caught myself getting depressed by
headlines and feeling terrible not only for the people mentioned but
also whatever angel had to witness that. So I'm a lil irked by
Monica not making the connection that if she's dispirited by simply
reading about people being killed, maybe her AOD friends just might
have some struggles she's not paid much attention to.

And another thing... this is the angel who seemed to think she should
have been assigned to the death camps during World War II. Yet
here a mere newspaper gets her down and then she says she doesn't "feel
up to" doing an assignment. At that point Monica went from
seeming understandably downtrodden to me to outright wimpy.
People have to do stuff when they don't feel up to it all the
time. I would hope to get the same if not better from an
angel. I have to laugh when Monica says she's disappointed in
mankind. This particular member of humankind feels more than a
lil disappointed in her so I guess that's fair.

Marie got on my nerves a bit, too. Which was probly the
point. But she just seemed a lil too rosy-eyed to me. And
her telling Monica she believed she was an angel from the first seems
suspicious to me. She was afraid of getting laughed at?
Call me crazy but I think I'd be a lil more afraid of what would happen
if I ridiculed an angel sent by God. The character did make me
wonder, though, at what point the needing to be needed thing becomes a
fault. Cause to some extent I feel that. When does it get
unhealthy?

I kept thinking Andrew was going to talk more! There are two
scenes when Andrew is seated by Tess while she talks to Monica. I
continuously thought it looked like he was getting ready to say
something but then nothing came until finally he announces that it's
"closin' time." It was a lil exasperating. But that's what
I get for becoming obsessed. ;-)

Lingering questions:Was Tess' piano player an angel? Part of me thinks
he was but
it's not totally clear. At the end Tess says "let's go
home." But did she mean Home or home? Was she implying
they'd both go to the same place (Home) or that they'd both just call
it a night and go to their respective homes?

How the heck does Mr. Wizard work? Every time I watch this
episode I try to figure it out by no clue yet.

This episode did sorta answer a question I was pondering earlier in the
day. I was thinking about my "Full Moon" review and it hit me
that maybe Andrew physically can't intervene during assignments.
He may have no control over when he's in visible v. invisible
form. Then I pondered if he could glow of his own accord.
This episode suggests not. Because I think, if Monica had the
option, she would have definitely glowed during her first revelation
scene that went so badly.

Parts that made me feel
swoony:
I am for some reason very pleased to know Andrew takes his coffee
black. I'm not sure why but having that bit of trivia makes me
happy. Maybe cause I think, should he magically become real, that
way he won't hog my beloved flavored creamers and coffee syrups
collection. Just kidding. But I do like Andrew
trivia.

Again, I just really like the scene where Andrew and Amethyst
talk. The look on his face after she walks away... kinda sad,
very compassionate. Lovely, lovely angel. I just like to
think of him encouraging people to recognize and respect their own
value. And I
love Andrew being protective of women. I know
it's probably not politically correct but... I'd like an Andrew to
emotionally and psychologically protect me like he does Amethyst
here.

I also think he's way cool when he keeps so calm with Mr. Burns.
I think I woulda lost my nerve speaking to him after he demanded to be
called Mr. Burns. But Andrew seems nonplussed. I want him
around when I need to be confrontational with people!

Finally, as stated before, I just find him incredibly handsome in this
one.

Random thoughts:
My mom
recently heard the "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the
world" joke. I was amused cause here I'd learned it from TBAA
years before! Who woulda thought a show about angels would supply
a good drinking joke?

And, finally, I wanna be Monica in the final scene. I wanna dance
with Andrew... Preferably not in a bar. Under a starlit sky
would be nice. Not gonna happen... Sigh.